Is Jon Bon Jovi’s Bid to Buy the Buffalo Bills Dead… or Alive?

Two days after penning an open letter to the citizens of Buffalo in an attempt to allay their fears of relocation, Jon Bon Jovi has been granted a second chance to purchase the city’s professional football team.

Bon Jovi and his group of Toronto-based investors have been given another opportunity to submit a bid for the Buffalo Bills after their first was rejected for, according to the Toronto Sun, being “uncompetitively low.” In addition, the paper related that Morgan Stanley -- the bank charged with conducting the sale -- was concerned about the Bon Jovi group’s interest in keeping the team where they are.

Bon Jovi, who hopes to become the principle owner of the team if his group’s bid is accepted, did his best to put the latter concern to rest in his message to Buffalo. “Our objective is simple: to carry on the legacy of Ralph Wilson and make the Bills successful in Buffalo,” he wrote in the Buffalo News. “We are committed to working with the State, City, County and business community to identify the best possible site in the Buffalo area for a new stadium and to then develop and implement a plan to finance and build a state-of-the-art NFL stadium for the loyal Bills fans. My family and I are prepared to make this life-changing commitment to be part of the Bills. This is not a hobby or an acquisition. Building a winner on and off the field will be job one and I intend to spend as much time on the ground in Buffalo as needed to accomplish that goal.”

It was reported that Bon Jovi’s initial bid for the team hovered somewhere around the $900 million dollar figure, and with a second opportunity he and his co-investors plan to go in for $1.2 billion. While that might seem like quite a bit of money, the new amount will still be approximately $100 million lower than the bid submitted by Terry Pegula, who already owns the Buffalo Sabres hockey team.